Saturday, August 23, 2014

August luck, and musings on Mother Nature

If I do say so myself, I am a humble
gardener. When things go right in my garden, I
generally don't think it's my doing. What I usually think is that I got
lucky. Lucky gardening and the beneficence of Mother Nature in my garden
have been on my mind this week. Let me explain.

Last year I lost my huge and very favorite Agastache 'Acapulco Orange' to
winter. Multiple web searches turned up no stock anywhere to replace it.
Then a month or so ago, I spied a tiny seedling in the garden that
looked like young Agastache foliage. I hardly dared to hope, but it now
seems irrefutably to be growing into exactly that plant. I had assumed it was a sterile hybrid, but I got lucky.

I stopped by a Fred Meyer in Vancouver last week and found this four-foot Musa basjoo plant for the lofty sum of $4.99. Lucky, right?

I bought this Abutilon megapotamicum at Cracked Pots last year
and I was sure I lost it over winter. The little sticks of its remaining
branches were dry and sad looking.

It's lucky I didn't give up on it earlier, because now, not only is it most definitely alive, it is finally beginning to flower.

Ceanothus 'Victoria' blooms profusely in May. Then in August,
when the last thing on my mind is its flowers, comes this: a single,
sweet reminder of one of my all-time favorite spring blossoms. Thank
you, Mother Nature!

This piece of August luck came in the form of a mystery: I have almost
no idea what this is, nor do I know from whence it came, but I love its
big, dusty gray leaves sprouting from the point where a patch of Lilium columbianum
had lately bloomed. I'll hazard a guess this is a volunteer Verbascum
of some kind. Time will tell the answer and meanwhile I'll enjoy the
surprise.

Lewisia columbiana var. walloensis has been a non-stop
summer bloomer in a gravelly part of the Northwest Territory. It's
winding down now, but not without leaving a little present.

I recently discovered a little seedling of the Lewisia going for broke just in front of the Eriogonum compositum. It's just delightful when the plants you really love are the ones that really love your garden.

So is it luck, or is Mother Nature working extra hard on my behalf this month?
I'll take it, whichever it is!

"It's
just delightful when the plants you really love are the ones that
really love your garden." Well-said! It makes all the inexplicable
losses worth while! Exciting to see someone else growing Eriogonum.
Yes!!!! One of my favorites, for so many reasons. PS Your banner photo
is glorious.

You do seem to be having a lot of good fortune for the end of August. A lot of Agastaches I have grown did not return, so that is great, even a named variety! And a cute little baby Lewisia! If I ever try to grow one again I will have to try the gravel. I have both Mullein and Foxglove mysteriously appear sometimes in my garden, only to disappear again for years. Congratulations on getting your deleted post back, I did that once but ended up with a crippled post that wouldn't allow comments, so great job!

Jane, you are a fabulous gardener and the space you've created welcomes such wonderful surprises! That Musa Basjoo find makes me think that it wouldn't hurt to buy a lotto ticket while fortune is smiling!